Mercer University and Robins AFB held a formal signing ceremony at the school’s Macon, Ga., campus last week to renew their long-standing educational partnership agreement. The close collaboration between the two organizations dates to the early 1980s when the commander of Warner Robins Air Logistics Center and the president of Mercer came up with a plan to fix the Air Force’s shortage of engineers, prompting the university to open an engineering school, reported Mercer News. The partnership is more than just a workforce pipeline for Robins, however; now the university’s applied engineering and research arm provides extensive support to the Air Force.